Getting a life is an important concept for all parents, including me. Without breaks we cannot be the best parents we can be. I liken it to putting the airplane oxygen mask on your face before assisting others. If we expire we cannot be helpful to our children. I need to take my own advice.
“Getting a life” is harder than I thought it would be. When, exactly, am I supposed to do that? Between the constant activity, household chores, errands, work, etc. I feel exhausted. The answer is to make it a priority. There are many ways, big and small, to incorporate breaks into daily life. I paint my toe nails. I listen to meditation podcasts in bed. We have a daily “toes up” time during which you don’t have to sleep but you do need to have a quiet body in bed.
Getaway Girls
But I am so pleased with this one: Two, equally desperate girlfriends and I have committed to annual overnights away from our families. We split a hotel room, walk to a restaurant in our cozy pajamas, then spend an evening in the hotel hot tub laughing and relaxing. When I return I am renewed and have a deeper well of patience for my miraculous kiddos.
My busy, joyful Thrive Son. I enjoy him even more when I get breathers from the activity of him.Energetic Life
Some good quotes to ponder from Kahlil Gibran:
“”But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.”
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.”
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”
“Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.”
“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”
In what ways do you get a life? Add some new ones.
